Independent developer Free Range Games and publisher North Beach Games have announced that actor John Rhys-Davies is reprising his iconic role as Lord Gimli Lockbearer for its new co-op survival crafting title, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. Rhys-Davies, who recently returned to play Sallah in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny for Lucasfilm and Disney, can be heard as Gimli in a new official opening cinematic, which runs for 2 minutes and offers a peek at some of the other Dwarves and locations that players will find in the game launching on October 24 for PS5 and PC via the Epic Games Store. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will celebrate its 22nd anniversary this December.
“It’s always fun to come back and think of the ‘what-ifs’, and the chance to work on this game is an exploration of one of the what-ifs, isn’t it?” said Rhys-Davies. “Actors often create characters out of love and it’s very hard, sometimes, to let them go. Certainly, Gimli is, for me, a character that I really adore, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to reprise him in a different context.”
“Authenticity is a cornerstone of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria and when it came to casting Gimli, there was only one name everyone wanted,” said Chris Scholz, CEO of Free Range Games. “It’s been an honor, a privilege, and a dream to have Mr. John Rhys-Davies reprise this iconic role.”
As a special celebration, on the Dwarven holiday of Durin’s Day, October 17, Rhys-Davies joins Nerd of the Rings, the largest YouTube channel in the world dedicated entirely to Middle-earth, for an exclusive interview discussing his role in the game, working with the development team at Free Range Games, returning to The Lord of the Rings, and more.
The story of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria takes players beyond the books and into the Fourth Age of Middle-earth, the fantastical world created by J.R.R. Tolkien. Summoned to the Misty Mountains by Lord Gimli Lockbearer, players band together as a company of Dwarves tasked to reclaim the lost spoils from the Dwarven homeland of Moria—known as Khazad-dûm or Dwarrowdelf—in the depths below their very feet. Their quest will require fortitude and teamwork, delving deep into the Mines of Moria to recover its treasures and in the hopes of one day restoring them to their former glory.